Proposed facility visualization
The proposal
Scroll, or drag a corner, to turn the pages
NoTerra Farms
NoTerra Farms is building food-production infrastructure in Nevada, for Nevada, starting with an indoor farm in Moapa Valley that grows fresh produce close to the people who eat it.
The founders are longtime Las Vegas residents with deep roots in the food-service industry. For years, the “fresh” produce reaching the valley had often been picked a week or more before. It arrived wilting and short-lived. NoTerra Farms was started to close that distance.
No terra means no soil.
The film
The challenge
Nevada depends on other states for much of its fresh produce. It travels a long way to get here, through a supply line the state does not control.
Much of the fresh produce sold in Nevada is grown in other states and arrives by truck, often days after it was picked.
When weather, fuel costs or a closed highway interrupt that trip, Nevada shelves feel it. A local source makes the supply more resilient.
Nevada is the driest state in the country. Any new farm here has to treat water as the scarce resource it is.
How water is reusedGrowing close to the grocers, kitchens and institutions that buy produce shortens the trip from harvest to table.
The NoTerra solution
NoTerra Farms is planned as lasting food infrastructure for the state, a working farm built to supply Nevada with fresh produce every season of the year.
Inside a controlled indoor environment, crops grow without soil and without depending on the weather outside. Water is treated and kept in use. Harvests travel a short distance to local buyers instead of crossing state lines.
The goal is a dependable local source of fresh food, designed for desert conditions from the start.
Read the plan in full
Site visualization
Why here
Moapa Valley is a farming valley northeast of Las Vegas, with fields, tree rows and a community that already knows the land.
Building here keeps agriculture active in the valley while placing the farm within easy reach of Southern Nevada’s grocers, kitchens and institutions. Nevada has the sunshine, the space and the demand for fresh food. What it has been missing is local production designed for the desert.
The site is under contract, and the water rights are secured.
The facility
The facility is planned as a large building developed in phases, so production can grow as local demand grows.
Each phase can be designed, built and running well before the next begins. The broad roof offers room for solar, which is being evaluated as part of the design. Final dimensions and layout will be set through engineering.
The presentation
How we grow
At the core of the farm is a deep water culture system for leafy greens and herbs. Around it, specialized growing zones with their own microclimates are set up for fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Each crop grows in the conditions that suit it, all in one building.
Leafy greens and herbs grow in floating rafts on shallow basins of aerated nutrient water.
Roots hang in the water and take up what they need. Rafts lift out for planting and harvest, so the bed is never disturbed and there is no soil to prepare or replace.
Fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers grow in zones of their own.
These plants need more height, support and time than leafy greens, so they are not grown on the raft beds. Each zone is set up around how its crop grows.
Temperature, humidity and light are tuned zone by zone.
Greens and herbs like it cooler. Fruiting crops want warmth and longer days. Separate microclimates let each crop grow in the conditions that suit it.
Every zone shares one building, one water system and one team.
Growing a range of crops in a single facility lets a nearby buyer fill more of an order from one local source, in every season.
Water
Water is drawn from the site’s water source, treated and prepared, then circulated through the growing zones, collected, treated and used again. New water enters only to replace what the plants take up and what evaporates.
Internal reuse loop
Energy
Southern Nevada is known for long, bright days, and the facility is designed with that in mind.
Rooftop solar and energy-efficient systems for lighting, climate control and water movement are being evaluated as part of the design. The size of any solar system, and how much of the farm’s energy it would provide, will be determined through engineering.
Proposed facility visualization
Who it serves
A shorter supply chain means produce reaches buyers sooner after harvest, with more of its shelf life left.
NoTerra Farms intends to supply grocers, restaurants, hospitality, schools and healthcare across Southern Nevada with fresh, competitively priced produce grown a short drive away. Buyers and distribution partners will be confirmed as the project advances.
Community
We hope to open the farm to local schools, build learning partnerships across Nevada, and create jobs for people who are ready to work.
That includes healthier food for school cafeterias, skilled technical roles, and a habit of hiring and buying locally first.
Where the project stands
We have secured the water rights, the site is under contract, and we are now in the planning phase, working with our community and government partners.
For partners and investors
Frequently asked
Not yet. We have secured the water rights, the site is under contract, and we are now in the planning phase, working with our community and government partners.
No terra means no soil. Leafy greens and herbs grow in floating rafts with their roots in aerated nutrient water, and fruiting crops grow in their own specialized zones. None of it is grown in the ground.
In Moapa Valley, Nevada, a farming valley northeast of Las Vegas. The site is under contract, and the water rights are secured.
Leafy greens and herbs in the deep water culture core, and fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in specialized growing zones with their own microclimates. The final crop mix will be set during planning.
From the site’s water source, which for most sites is a well or a municipal supply. Water is treated, prepared with nutrients and circulated through the growing zones, then collected, treated and used again. New water is added only to replace what the plants take up and what evaporates.
Grocers, restaurants, hospitality, schools and healthcare in Southern Nevada. Buyers will be confirmed as the project advances, and none are represented here.
The aim is fresh, local produce that is competitively priced. A shorter trip from the farm also means produce arrives with more of its shelf life left.
That is the hope. NoTerra Farms wants to open its doors to local schools and educational tours. Read about the community plans.
We are working with community and government partners through planning and welcome conversation with county, state and agency partners on approvals, infrastructure, utilities and programs that apply to an agricultural facility at this site. Each approval follows its own process.
Contact
Neighbors, schools, public agencies, chefs, grocers and press are all welcome. Write to the project team at seed.ling@noterrafarms.com or use the form.
Or start with the documents
